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Now with the tournament wraped up i am ready to hand out my awards for players who have dissapointed me the most for the duration of it. Here are some underachievers:
PG Ricky Rubio
Rubio won another gold yet again, and you could make case that he played solid defense, through Diamantidis he ain`t. But still, 1.5 ppg average on 23% shooting and 1/15 from beyond the arc. The great euro hope is on a fast track to turn into big time bust. By the time he is 25 he may be out of national team with up and coming talent Spain has at PG position. I keep hearing Rubio`s game is more suited for the NBA. Didn`t know the cylinders were bigger overseas.
SG Milos Teodosic
European player of the year? I love to watch Milos play, he has great flair and brilliant basketball mind. Still, the game is played on both ends of the court and Milos was the main reason Serbian defense kept falling apart. Whether it was pick and roll or isolation Milos`s opponent kept driving by him. And most of the time he didn`t even care. By the end of the tournament everyone on the team was fed up with his attitude. Did Duda gave him a too long leash and turned him into a rock star?
SF Marco Bellineli
Personally it is so frustrating for me to watch a player who has all the tools to be great, but he just doesn`t care that much and is not playing game the right way. Belinelli is one of those players. He is quick with nice ballhandling and shooting skills. But somehow he always makes it hard on himself, either by fading away, forcing the shot early in the shot-clock or taking contested looks. His doesn`t play to win, but to show off.
PF Mirza Teletovic
He played two good games and Bosnia won both of them. On the other 3 he didn`t show up. His attitude is bad and his shot-selection was like big "fuck you" to all of his teammates. You work hard for 24 seconds on the defensive end and 3 seconds later here is Mirza shooting contesed fadeaway 30-foot jumpshot. If Mirza was playing on a more serious team he would be yanked to the bench and never brought back into the game. He will pass the ball only when he doesn`t have another option. He is someone teammates don`t like to play with.
C Stanko Barac
Vrankovic may have missused him and Croatia may not have Huertas who would make you look good in pick-roll game. Still, why Stanko didn`t get on the court was due to defense. His post-up defense consisted of standing behind the player and praying that he misses the shot. Playing like he was alergic to physical contact and something scary may happen he if put his hand on the opposing player. He came to live in 2nd half against Greece. Too little to late for 1.5 million Center.
The bench
Dontaye Draper - should actually be called Ontaye Raper since there is no D in his game. Also, can`t finish in the paint and his perimeter jumper is suspect.
Omar Cook - not because he didn`t make Montenegro offense work, but mostly because he looked like he doesn`t care, but needs to be here to keep enjoying the wealths of european passport.
Ersan Ilyasova - for living up to his reputation as big time talent and big time choker. Need proof? He made 13 of 14 FTs until the crucial game against Serbia, then he missed 4 of 8 and all his 7 shots outside of the paint.
Ender Arslan/Kerem Tunceri - for being so bad that Turkey federation was thinking about stealing McCaleeb from Macedonia in the middle of the tournament.
Nikola Pekovic - for being overweight, not playing defense and not being the beast he usually is.
Davis Bertans - he shot 17% from 3 and having already 0/11 3FG game earlier this summer infront of home crowd at U19 WC. Did i mention that he is a sharpshooter who got drafted based on his sweet stroke?
PG Ricky Rubio
Rubio won another gold yet again, and you could make case that he played solid defense, through Diamantidis he ain`t. But still, 1.5 ppg average on 23% shooting and 1/15 from beyond the arc. The great euro hope is on a fast track to turn into big time bust. By the time he is 25 he may be out of national team with up and coming talent Spain has at PG position. I keep hearing Rubio`s game is more suited for the NBA. Didn`t know the cylinders were bigger overseas.
SG Milos Teodosic
European player of the year? I love to watch Milos play, he has great flair and brilliant basketball mind. Still, the game is played on both ends of the court and Milos was the main reason Serbian defense kept falling apart. Whether it was pick and roll or isolation Milos`s opponent kept driving by him. And most of the time he didn`t even care. By the end of the tournament everyone on the team was fed up with his attitude. Did Duda gave him a too long leash and turned him into a rock star?
SF Marco Bellineli
Personally it is so frustrating for me to watch a player who has all the tools to be great, but he just doesn`t care that much and is not playing game the right way. Belinelli is one of those players. He is quick with nice ballhandling and shooting skills. But somehow he always makes it hard on himself, either by fading away, forcing the shot early in the shot-clock or taking contested looks. His doesn`t play to win, but to show off.
PF Mirza Teletovic
He played two good games and Bosnia won both of them. On the other 3 he didn`t show up. His attitude is bad and his shot-selection was like big "fuck you" to all of his teammates. You work hard for 24 seconds on the defensive end and 3 seconds later here is Mirza shooting contesed fadeaway 30-foot jumpshot. If Mirza was playing on a more serious team he would be yanked to the bench and never brought back into the game. He will pass the ball only when he doesn`t have another option. He is someone teammates don`t like to play with.
C Stanko Barac
Vrankovic may have missused him and Croatia may not have Huertas who would make you look good in pick-roll game. Still, why Stanko didn`t get on the court was due to defense. His post-up defense consisted of standing behind the player and praying that he misses the shot. Playing like he was alergic to physical contact and something scary may happen he if put his hand on the opposing player. He came to live in 2nd half against Greece. Too little to late for 1.5 million Center.
The bench
Dontaye Draper - should actually be called Ontaye Raper since there is no D in his game. Also, can`t finish in the paint and his perimeter jumper is suspect.
Omar Cook - not because he didn`t make Montenegro offense work, but mostly because he looked like he doesn`t care, but needs to be here to keep enjoying the wealths of european passport.
Ersan Ilyasova - for living up to his reputation as big time talent and big time choker. Need proof? He made 13 of 14 FTs until the crucial game against Serbia, then he missed 4 of 8 and all his 7 shots outside of the paint.
Ender Arslan/Kerem Tunceri - for being so bad that Turkey federation was thinking about stealing McCaleeb from Macedonia in the middle of the tournament.
Nikola Pekovic - for being overweight, not playing defense and not being the beast he usually is.
Davis Bertans - he shot 17% from 3 and having already 0/11 3FG game earlier this summer infront of home crowd at U19 WC. Did i mention that he is a sharpshooter who got drafted based on his sweet stroke?
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